If you are a student, then writing college essay is a common task you deal with on a regular basis. You craft term papers and speeches, personal statements, and descriptive essays. Teachers state that excellent writing skills can help young people both at college and in their future careers.
Besides, you often hear that before you get down to the business of composing a good piece, you should create a decent outline. To many students, it seems like quite a waste of time. They believe that they can compose an excellent piece without this plan. And even though it is the case for some people, most of us still need a good outline written before the actual text crafting.
There are many reasons why we believe so, and in this article, we will introduce you to some of them.
Reasons why you should craft an outline first
- Some teachers demand you to craft it first.
There are tutors who ask their students to compose a good outline first and show it to them so that they can see it and add their own changes to it before you begin the writing process. The thing is that an outline helps them understand what you are going to talk about in a piece, so before you write something your teacher finds irrelevant, consider showing them a plan so they can improve it and guide you in your thoughts.
- It makes everything easier.
When composing a text on any topic, you have so many thoughts on your mind that it can be hard to keep track of all of them. For this reason, having an outline can be almost like having a road map which will not let you lose track. It can be of much help to you here, so do not miss such an opportunity.
- An outline can help you see the flaws of your statement.
Even before you develop all of your thoughts, you can see them in your outline. Thus, you can check how well you used the sections of your text to support your position as well as how strong the statement you made really is. In an outline, you can see the flaws and weaknesses of the text. So, use it to correct the possible mistakes even before you actually make them.
- It can help you save time.
When writing without a plan, you spend a lot of time trying to link one idea to another as well as coming up with real evidence to support your position. However, with an outline, you can easily go from one point to another without stopping on some hard parts of the text. Since the process is much easier, you can compose an excellent article in shorter time.
- It helps you achieve the goal of the text.
By having a big picture in front of your eyes, you can reach your goal faster and easier. You do not have to lose focus by improvising and trying your best to compose a good piece. Thus, you definitely reach the goal and make the text work the way you want it to.
- It helps you point all of your general ideas to one goal.
Even though you may add too many specific things into your outline, it will create a big picture which is essential to your text and which will help you see one common goal for the piece in general.
- It will help you be more organized and keep you moving.
Instead of losing track all the time, you will have a real motivation to finish a piece. It is a psychological factor. When you know what you will write about, it is easier to get to work and not get distracted. It serves as a motivation: when you know where to start and what to aim for, you are more likely to craft an excellent essay in the end.
Composing an outline first is not a bad thing. It works for your best and keeps you on the move. So, instead of viewing it as a burden, keep the reasons we mentioned above in mind and enjoy the positive results an outline can bring to your life.
